


lost again with no surprises

by victrea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Metamorphmagus, Minor Original Character(s), Rating will change accordingly, Reincarnation, Relationships in the future - Freeform, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Worldbuilding, gen for now - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28716483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victrea/pseuds/victrea
Summary: WAIT. Euphrosyne? Nymphadora? What is wrong with this family? Or is it normal to give everyone such complicated names in this world?Effie doesn't how or why she's here. She's pretty sure a lot of people would have been more qualified than her to change the future. But if she's the one they've got then she'll have to do. Time to put on her big girl pants - just as soon as she starts fitting into them.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 149
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts





	1. hit the ground running

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Not Betaed

She wakes up to the sound of a baby crying, her body feels lethargic, moving her limbs feels difficult, her throat hurts and her lungs feel too small for the breath she wants to take. She registers a rocking motion and hands over her body and before she knows she’s unaware again. Consciousness returns in bits and pieces, more impressions than any actual awareness - she’s hungry and then she’s not, she feels uncomfortable and dirty and suddenly she’s warm and clean, her limbs still hurt but the pain leaves before she truly registers it. It takes her two months to understand the world around her and what has happened to her. The first clue is how big the three people around her are - two adults and one kid but she’s significantly smaller than the kid too, the second clue is how dependent she is on these people - they feed her, clean her, clothe her, play with her, cuddle her. 

After being in a denial for a few days she realises she’s a baby again. She spends the next month alternately crying and being numb - mourning her old life, her family, her friends. It wasn’t a perfect life but it was hers - she had a loving family, caring friends and she was looking forward to the future. She had been young. She had been happy. She’s reminded of the statistics of car crashes and prays her family made it safely. She wonders why she remembers anything from her old life and then decides not to think about that for now. Her new caretakers try to improve her mood but she’s always been prone to stewing in her bad mood and she isn’t ready to embrace something new yet.

She starts teething a few days later and becomes even more irritable. Her new parents put some ointment on her gums that stops the pain for a while but she still can’t stop herself from crying most of the day. It’s hard to reconcile almost 20 years of memories with her physical body when she can’t control her bladder, has to drink from her mother’s breasts and finds it quite enjoyable most of the time, can’t move her body the way she wants - it feels awful to be dependent on others like this but it's also freeing. Her body, not made for dealing with such grown up emotions, copes by frequent crying and sleeping.

One day when her gums are hurting more than they have in a while, she misses her mother and has been crying non stop for what seems like hours, the kid comes to her crib and changes her hair colour from brown to yellow and her nose to a pig's snout. It's so unusual that it shocks her out of her crying fit. The kid notices and tries to change her nose to an elephant’s trunk - clearly it's hurting her but she keeps trying, hoping to see some reaction.

Just then the woman walks in and asks her to stop hurting herself.

“But I wanted to see Effie smile mum. She stopped crying - did you see? Did you?”

She hadn’t realised she’d been so out of it that she didn’t notice her new name but at least it was easier than her last one.

“Euphrosyne is not well, Nymphadora. She’ll get better soon, you don’t need to hurt yourself.” Despite her reassuring words and calm tone, the woman looks worried. WAIT. Euphrosyne? Nymphadora? What is wrong with this family? Or is it normal to give everyone such complicated names in this world? She recognises the names from Greek mythology and for a moment wonders if she’s the actual Euphrosyne then curses herself for her stupidity. Everything is too modern and her family speaks English. Moreover Nymphadora wasn’t one of Euphrosyne’s sisters.

“Don’t call me that!” Nymphadora shouts and runs out of the room. The woman, her mother picks her up and rocks her softly, “I hope you feel better soon, my love.” She is kissed on her forehead and put back in the crib.

Nymphadora’s words more than anything else make her think something she’s not sure she wants to believe. She knows of only one Nymphadora who hated being called that and could change her features. Is she in the Harry Potter universe? She spends the rest of the week trying to collect information. Nymphadora seems very proud of herself for “curing” her, which she kind of did so Effie smiles at her sometimes. She learns her parents are called Dromeda and Ted which doesn’t tell her much because she’d never cared enough about Tonks’ character to remember her parents’ name. She’d read the books more than 5 years ago at this point and moreover doesn’t even know if this was exactly the same world or not.

A few days later her parents celebrate her being 6 months old - she learns her name is Euphrosyne Sarah Tonks. It’s a strange feeling - having a middle name, she’d been brown in her previous life and just had a first and last name. She also gets to look at herself in the mirror - she’s a cute baby with wispy blonde hair and brown eyes. It's so different from her old looks and surprisingly helps her separate these two lives. She’s Euphrosyne Sarah Tonks born to a mother who likes giving her children horrible names, a father who looks cheerful and kind and is always up for a good time and has a sister who can change the way she looks. She has brown eyes and blonde hair. She’s in the Harry Potter universe, maybe not the exact one from the book but it is a world where magic exists.

She still misses everyone she loved and she always will, the sadness and despair of losing everyone she ever loved will come back but for now she focuses on these three people who’re trying so, so hard to make her happy. If everything in this world is similar to the books then she knows how lucky she is to be born in this family. She doesn’t remember if Tonks’ talked about her parents much but they loved her and supported her choices - be it becoming an Auror or marrying a werewolf. If she’s had the good fortune to be born in a loving family again then she’ll count her blessings and not punish these people for having a daughter who doesn’t know what to do with the life given to her. Her new found zeal for life and curiosity delights her family - her mother carries her around the house as she cooks using her wand, her father flicks his wand and the dishes wash themselves while he reads her a story with moving pictures, Nymphadora (who her father calls Dora; Effie’s taken to doing the same, Nymphadora’s a mouthful) entertains her by changing the colour of her features which is the only thing she can do safely right now and for the first time in months Effie is happy. 

The first time she thinks she does accidental magic is when Dora trips over the stairs for what is probably the fiftieth time but this time she’s on the top and comes tumbling down and Effie remembers being so scared. Dora was the brightest thing in this new life of hers with her colourful hair and loud presence. She’d been the elder sister in her previous life and she’d often wished she had an older sibling and Dora was everything she’d wished for even if she was younger than her mentally. She doesn’t know if she could cope if anything happened to her. Suddenly Dora’s in the crib with her and Effie’s so shocked she just stares at the stairs for a second. Her mother comes running, scolding Dora for being absent minded and looks flabbergasted when she sees her in the crib. Both of them assume it's Dora’s magic and if Effie hadn’t felt that scared she probably would have agreed with them since it didn’t feel like she did anything special.

She tries to see if she can feel the magic inside herself anywhere, presuming it will come easily to her since she’d lived in a mundane body for 21 years but it can’t be separated from the rest of her. She’d always speculated magic would feel like a ball of light inside of wizards and witches but looking for it is like looking for the blood in her veins. She gives up after a few frustrating weeks. The next time she performs magic accidentally is when she’s playing with her father and he’s teasing her. The bright parrot plush is fascinating, it flies like a parrot and talks like one but her dad won’t let her have it and she wants it so much and suddenly it's there - it's in her hand! She feels giddy, she has magic! Magic! Ted laughs and calls Dromeda and they cuddle and kiss her and everything is great.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dora turns eight, there’s a party and Sirius Black comes to visit. Effie’s shocked to see him - she doesn’t know how he knows her parents or what he’s doing here. Also, he’s the most beautiful man she’s ever seen. He had always been described as extremely good looking but knowing and seeing are completely different things. Suddenly she can feel something happening on her scalp and somehow knows it's turned the exact shade of black as him.

He barks out a loud laugh, “Another metamorphmagus, huh Andi? What do you eat before giving birth to them?”

Her mum, who was staring at her until now shakes her head and faintly says, “That’s the first time she’s done that.”

Sirius laughs again, picks her up and twirls her around. “The ladies love to wait for me” he says with a wink. “And where is the birthday girl?”

Dora, who seems like a fairly confident girl most of the time, comes out from hiding behind Dad and turns red. Guess Sirius has that effect on everyone.

She’d assumed her parents had been on parental leave and that’s why they rarely left the house but over the next few hours she learns the war she read about is happening outside and all of them are targets. Apparently Dromeda had been Andromeda Black, Sirius’ cousin and from a staunchly pureblood family, she eloped with the muggleborn Ted Tonks and then had the audacity to give birth to a metamorphmagus. No one knows Effie exists because their whole family is being hunted by her crazy aunt Bella. Sirius is one of the few people who knows where they’ve been hidden since her mum got pregnant with her and sends them letters and visits occasionally. The war sounds bleaker than it had in the books, but then they were childrens’ books. Sirius names at least 20 people and a few families who’ve been killed (or tortured and killed), talks about more families going into hiding, talks about how everyday a new spy or imperiused person is found in the ministry and she watches her parents’ faces get paler and paler. Clearly the only reason she’s been allowed to sit here is because they think she won’t understand anything, Dora had been relegated to her room with her new birthday gifts a while ago.

Sirius catches her staring at him, smiles at her and turns to her parents, “As for better news, Harry was born in July”

“James and Lily’s boy?” Ted asks.

Sirius bounces a little on his sofa seat as if he can’t contain his excitement, “He’s the cutest baby ever” he says then looks at her, “No offence Effie, godson privileges”. Her parents laugh and he continues “He looks exactly like James but has Lily’s eyes. He loves me the most though” he finishes proudly.

He spends the next few hours talking to her parents but she falls asleep sometime between learning that Neville Longbottom has been born and the burden of lower staff and higher injuries on St. Mungo’s. When she wakes up Sirius is gone, and she spends a few minutes wishing the events from the book don’t come true and the charming man she’d met today didn’t have to suffer as much as he did. Ever since she’d realised she had been reborn in the world of Harry Potter she’d been delaying this exact moment. The moment when she realises that her inaction will lead to the loss of so many lives and many more being worse than they should have been. Shouldn’t she be doing something if she can? She’s never been the hero type, she’d been kind to everyone but minded her own business most of the time. She doesn’t know why she feels a sense of responsibility for these characters but she does. And she’s so scared - she doesn’t know how to tell the people around her without them thinking she’s crazy, she doesn’t want to be sent away from this new family of hers. She doesn’t know what to do.

She thinks about all this more and more as the days go by amidst all the other things happening around her. Effie hasn’t morphed anything since the day Sirius visited but Dora’s learning to control her powers more and more. She starts talking - calls her dad ‘Da’ and her mum ‘Ma’ and Dora ‘Ra’. She starts noticing how different her current body is - not only the looks but the constitution. She is much hardier than she was in her past life - falling barely hurts, when it does hurt the pain leaves much faster; she feels stronger and can lift items much beyond her little body’s capacity; her senses are sharper; her learning comprehension is much better than it was; all in all she feels healthier than she ever has. By the time her first birthday has come and gone she has decided she will change as much as she can without getting caught. She knows right now she doesn’t have the power to do anything. She wishes she could get a message to the Potters’ somehow but they’re under Fidelius and she doesn’t have the dexterity to write letters anyway.

She wonders if she should announce she’s a seer but decides against it - first of all because she’s not one and doesn’t know how to fake it. She’s not sure if this world has some way to measure these powers and if she lies someday someone will figure it out and wonder how she knows what she knows. More importantly she doesn’t know if all her information is correct. She remembers major events from the books but not enough details to truly sell being a seer. It's a hard pill to swallow, this decision - she knows the Potters’ might die in a few months, Sirius might be in Azkaban and Harry might be at the Dursleys but she can’t stop it. 

Effie thinks she’s prepared to live with her decisions but the morning of 1st November still shocks her - she’d been trying to keep up with the date but there was no calendar in the house and their peace is broken when someone knocks insistently on the door. Her mum pales, casts a few spells on the door and then opens the door and sighs in relief - apparently it’s one of her friends from Hogwarts who’s come to tell them Voldemort is dead. Her voice is high due to how excited she is and when Effie hears the Potters’ are dead and Harry survived she feels worse than she has in a long time. She reminds herself that knowing it could happen doesn’t make her responsible for it but she still feels guilty.

Her parents don’t understand why she’s not as cheerful as usual but don’t give it too much thought amidst all the changes happening now that Voldemort’s is dead and his supporters are getting arrested. She reminds herself to start calling him You-know-who since she isn’t supposed to know his real name and watches as her parents get back in touch with their friends and her Dad’s family.

Enid Tonks who looks like she’s around Sirius’ age and is apparently Ted’s younger sister and her godmother is the first to visit. She’s a pretty blonde who was studying business in Uni and had ended up taking a semester abroad when Ted suggested going into hiding. 

She’s clever and funny and spends the weekend playing with Dora and her, giving their parents time to leave the house and sort out their jobs. Ted had been a Healer at St. Mungo’s Artefact Department before the war got serious, which is where he met Andromeda who worked as an archivist at the Department of Artefacts in the ministry and got hexed by a pendant that only let her speak in poetry and didn’t let her keep her thoughts to herself. He had been 2 years ahead of her at school and she’d always had a crush on him but knew her family wouldn’t approve - she ended up asking him out that day and they dated for a year in secret before they eloped.

By the time she turns two, Ted has started working with Wimbourne Wasps as their personal healer, Andromeda is back at her job at the Ministry and they’ve moved to a bigger house in Wimbourne. On her second birthday, she gets to see her first quidditch game when the Wasps are playing against the Falmouth Falcons. Ted shrinks an old Wimbourne Wasp jersey for Dora that matches her yellow and black hair and dresses Effie in a bumblebee costume that buzzes every time she flaps her arms. Mum rolls her eyes but puts on a striped yellow and black muffler under her black coat. She had never been a sports enthusiast in her past life but Quidditch is phenomenal. They’re seated right in the middle of a sea of yellow and black, players are zooming around in the air as fast as any car she’s seen throwing the quaffle faster than the eye can see. Everytime the Wasps score a goal the stadium around her vibrates with the buzzing of the fans. It’s one of the most exhilarating things she’s ever experienced. Effie wonders when she’ll get to try flying.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Effie is four when Dora gets her Hogwarts letter - her hair turns bright pink when she sees it and she runs around the house singing the school song which Dad used to sing to them sometimes. The letter looks exactly like it did in the book and they decide to go to Diagon Alley this weekend. In the last two years Effie has tried her best to learn about the world she’s found herself in but it’s been hard. Her parents are very well read and push her to read too but they also think she’s a kid so she’s had to deal with kid friendly stories from The Tales of Beedle the Bard (which she loved), a few muggle fairy tales and a series of books for little wizards and witches which touches on the basics of Magical Theory, Herbology, Magical Creatures and Astronomy. 

Despite the lack of quality reading material she didn’t have much time to be bored. After her discovery that magic can’t be felt separately, she tried to focus on her morphing which turned out to be comparatively easier to feel and control - Dora had started being able to change her body shape and size shortly after You-Know-Who’s defeat and her tripping around has almost quadrupled. Effie can’t change her body yet, but she has gotten her colouring under control. She tries to challenge herself everyday by changing the colour of one body part and maintaining it for as long as she can and after two years of hard work she’s happy to say she’s pretty much a pro at it. Morphing is the strangest thing, it feels like there is a separate area in her brain that always knows how she looks instinctively - she mostly has her changes under control, but sometimes if she’s feeling too strongly her hair changes colours and though she can’t stop it she always knows what is happening. Working on that control feels like building muscle, it’s hard but once she’s got it then it’s just as easy as moving her fingers. Surprisingly it is the details that are harder than changing larger parts of her body - it took her a month to turn her hands red but took her almost eight months to produce moles and freckles. She’s been lucky enough to have Dora guiding her and their parents have researched as much as they can but they don’t have access to the Black Family library and have no way of knowing how other metamorphmagi dealt with it in the past. Effie thinks she has a plan on how to get Sirius out of Azkaban way before 1993 and hopes he’ll let her into the library at Grimmauld.

She’s also been trying to work on her occlumency. She doesn’t remember if Snape told Harry anything besides ‘clearing his mind’ in the books and had been scared to try anything by herself because she has no idea what effect occlumency has on a developing mind. After weeks of deliberation she decided to start with meditation and accepting her emotions - which has helped her in morphing too. One thing she hasn’t gotten anywhere with is her wandless magic - or as she had hoped it would be - deliberate accidental magic. Everyday she tries to summon things, tries to light the candles in the living room, tries to change the colour of her toys but nothing happens except for her feeling like a pressure cooker about to burst. Somehow, she instinctively knows she shouldn’t let that happen - and using that analogy is trying to turn it into a gradual and controllable release but she’s nowhere near it yet.

She knows someday she will change things, and she’s a firm proponent of the idea that things happen for a reason - there is a reason she’s been born in this world, there’s a reason she’ll be in Harry Potter’s year at Hogwarts, there’s a reason she’s been born in a family that would be involved in the conflict to come even if she stays out of Harry’s way. Choosing to get into dangerous situations is completely unlike her but that’s why she wants to do it - she’d been such a cautious goody-two-shoes in her past life and where did that get her? Dead before her 21st birthday. Away from her family and friends. Now she’ll grab on to life with both hands - she’ll enjoy being a kid, she’ll take full advantage of being born in a world full of magic and if she wants to get into danger to protect her loved ones, she’ll do that too.

Dora has gone to Diagon Alley before but this is Effie’s first time. She doesn’t know if it was because of the war or if it is cultural but she has been kept away from areas with large wizarding populations ever since she’s been born. All their outings are in the muggle world - generally with one of her dad’s muggle relatives. Aunt Enid is her favourite - but Uncle Phillip, her dad’s older brother and his sons Eric and Chris aren’t bad either. Her dad’s family as a whole is very accepting and fond of magic - they’re just as cheerful as dad and she can see why her mum who came from such a cold household loves them.

They floo into The Leaky Cauldron and her dad taps the bricks behind the pub. As soon as the wall moves, Effie gapes. She had been expecting something beautiful considering Harry’s reaction in the first book but it’s better than she could have imagined. Her family who’d been watching her reaction laugh and start leading her onto the street. 

“Where to first, Dora?” Dad asks as he absent mindedly straightens her after she trips on the paved alley.

“Ollivander’s!” she shouts.

“Let’s buy your robes first, Dora. Then you can go get your Potions and Astronomy equipment with Dad while Effie and I visit Flourish and Blotts. We’ll buy the Wand and your pet together”, Mum says in an imperious tone and then smiles at Dora.

Dora looks irritated and Effie can’t blame her. Mum had a habit of taking charge everywhere. She valued efficiency a lot.

She wondered why her parents weren’t going to Gringotts first like everyone in the books did but sees Mum give Dad something that looked like a chequebook.

She stands on her tiptoes to get a closer look and asks “What’s that?”

“It’s a Gringotts receipt book. It has unlimited pages for a year and can only be opened by your Dad or me. We can pay using this and Gringotts sends the money to the shops every month in exchange for this.” Mum explained.

“What do they get in return?” she asks curiously.

Dad laughed. “Read about them, did you? They charge some interest but it’s worth the ease.”

She wonders why Harry never got something like this and then realises he had come to Diagon Alley either with Hagrid or the Weasleys, neither of whom seemed like they had enough disposable income to spend it on paying interest. Moreover Gringotts’ visits were always used for worldbuilding or plot reasons by Rowling and cheque books weren’t interesting enough for that.

She nods and they walk to Madam Malkin’s.

A few hours later they’re back home - it had been a tiring day but it had also been extremely exciting. Flourish and Blotts had been exactly what she’d been expecting but at the same time it was more - the only word to describe it was organised chaos. There were stacks of books all over the shop - sometimes straight, sometimes crooked but still standing upright. She had been allowed to buy a book on Famous Wizards and Witches of the 20th century even though it was way above the comprehension level of a regular 4 year old and was hoping it would help her piece together recent events in this world. She’d been hoping to buy Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts but one look at Mum’s face and she knew there was no way she would get that.

Ollivander’s shop had also been quite similar to what was described and the man was just as creepy too. He’d known all of their names and mentioned what wands her parents had. Dora had ended up with a Alder and Unicorn Hair wand which apparently meant she was likeable, unlikely to turn to the dark arts and would become a very powerful witch. Ollivander seemed very proud of his wands - a little too proud maybe. According to mum his shop was the oldest in Wizarding Britain and the only one sponsored by the Ministry of Magic.

Dora had also bought a barn owl and named him Bandit because the shopkeeper mentioned he liked to steal treats. He was very handsome and much more playful than their family owl Castor who rarely deigned anyone other than Mum with his presence.

The next month passes in a whirlwind of preparations and frequent cookouts at their grandparents’ house. Dora who had somehow found Dumbledore’s picture from The Daily Prophet was practicing how to morph into him, probably for pranking purposes. She was trying her best to hide this from mum but Effie had a feeling mum knew and found it amusing.

Before she knows it's the first of September and they’re apparating outside King’s Cross. They could floo to the platform straightaway but Dad said his first time running through the barrier was magical and wants Dora to do the same. Despite seeing all sorts of magic in the last four years, Effie is fascinated by the barrier and the platform. It probably has something to do with the 11 year old who hoped and wished for her Hogwarts letter and wanted to experience this. It's surreal to imagine that seven years later she will be able to do this too! The station is not very full - probably because they arrived pretty early. She can’t see anyone she recognises but she’s pretty sure she won’t be able to recognise anyone except the Weasleys just by looking anyway.

They load Dora’s trunk into the train. Bandit has already flown to Hogwarts. Dad hands Dora a few coins to buy sweets on the train, ruffles her hair and pulls her in for a hug.

Mom kisses her forehead and dabs her teary eyes, “Take care, Nymphadora. Study hard and have fun, don’t start your shenanigans for a week at least - I don’t want to wake up to a letter from your Head of House first thing tomorrow.”

Dora scrunches her nose at being called Nymphadora and sticks out her tongue - which is black, in response.

Effie gives Dora a tight hug. She’s growing tall at a pretty fast rate - she’s almost as tall as mum and Effie just reaches her waist. “Promise to write and tell me about your sorting?”

“Of course!” Dora exclaims. “I’ll write to you tonight” she changes her mouth to a duck’s bill, “Well maybe not tonight, but first thing tomorrow for sure!”

She runs back to the train and waves from her compartment. Just then Effie notices a family of redheads entering the station. In true Weasley fashion, there’s just five minutes before the train and they’re all rushing. Mr and Mrs Weasley have come with two red headed kids who are most probably Bill and Charlie. Bill is lankier than Charlie and is dressed in Gryffindor robes unlike Charlie who is in Dora’s year. Effie can understand why their hair colour is mentioned frequently in the books - it stands out among all the browns and blondes and blacks. It looks like lava is flowing from their head.

Dad picks her up and she looks at Dora who starts waving at her and changing her nose again - Effie laughs and turns her body yellow, then red, then blue and finally green. Her parents are not very prejudiced against Slytherin considering Mum was one but Dora had been advised to consider other houses if she could. No matter how cowed certain families were because of You-Know-Who’s end, being Andromeda Tonks’ daughter would make surviving Slytherin harder than school needs to be.

Dora turns yellow and black as the train starts moving and Effie waves so hard she’s worried her hand will fall off.

“Think she’ll get into Hufflepuff?” Dad asks.

“Definitely” she replies. Mum hums and nods, “She could be a Gryffindor too.”

“Well I don’t mind, considering this one is a Ravenclaw in the making” he says and ruffles my hair, “It’ll be nice to have one of each in the house.”


	2. when you are young, they assume you know nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not Betaed

Ever since Dad had started working with the Wimbourne Wasps he had taken Dora and Effie along with him to work. His office at the stadium was large and he was given a fully equipped tent whenever the team was touring. He let them stay in the room if he was treating minor injuries, otherwise Effie was left under Dora’s supervision while someone checked on them periodically.

Now that Dora’s gone to Hogwarts and she is less closely supervised, Effie starts plotting. She makes a mental list of every problem she can think of starting with Harry’s first year - the sorcerer’s stone, Tom Riddle’s diary and the chamber, Sirius Black and dementors, Barty Crouch Jr. and the resurrection of Voldemort and the Ministry’s attitude towards - well, everything.

She knows reforming or even attempting to change the Ministry would be a long term job - better left alone for now. She doesn’t know if she can do anything about the stone yet either - but she decides to start asking Dora about every teacher at Hogwarts in detail. Hopefully that would make asking about Quirrell and his impending trip to Albania less suspicious. The Diary was another unknown variable and she hopes that nothing she does changes the dynamics between the Weasleys and Malfoys so that she can get her hands on that diary as soon as possible.

Truthfully the only thing she can change right now that could have an effect on the plot was Sirius - her mum never mentions him and the rest of them know they shouldn’t either after her usually unflappable mother burst into tears on Dora’s ninth birthday when asked about him. She was sure Dora assumed Sirius was dead and their parents had never bothered to correct her. Quite frankly this irritated Effie. She had noticed how close her parents were to Sirius all those years ago - how could they not notice him being arrested for being a Death Eater was so out of character? She was pretty sure her parents didn’t know about his lack of trial, otherwise her dad would be frothing at the mouth at the perceived injustice and mum would put her considerable social circle to use and at least give him a fighting chance.

Effie could think of two ways to try to get him free - either she could somehow befriend the Weasleys and send Pettigrew to the Ministry anonymously or she could push her mother to get Sirius a trial. Catching Pettigrew could change the plot completely - he was the one who found and resurrected Voldemort, would she lose the upper hand if she sent him to Azkaban? Effie decides to work on her mother first and starts looking for a way to mention Sirius without sounding suspicious, there is no way she should remember him especially as young as she was when she met him. If nothing else works out she will send an anonymous letter to Dumbledore and hope he does something.

The opportunity to get to know about and mention Sirius comes suddenly and without any effort from Effie’s side. Now that she’s almost 5 she’s considered old enough to be sent to a governess called Alma Trigg who teaches a few young magical children. Early and Primary education in the wizarding world is not standardised at all and coming from a society where she’d started going to some form of institution at the age of 3 it baffles and excites her. Parents choose these teachers depending on the children's temperament or what they wanted their kids to focus on. Mrs. Trigg apparently has a Mastery in Charms and had been Mum’s mentor when she started working at the Ministry. She retired when the war started heating up and had taken up teaching in the years since You-Know-Who vanished.

Mrs. Trigg is a short, grey haired witch who has an impeccable posture and lives in a large cottage in Dorset. She is organised and exacting and had Effie been an actual 5 year old, she would have hated her or would have been intimidated by her. As an adult, she loves her. No question goes unanswered as long as it is asked politely and no book is too advanced for her as long as she can reach the shelf. There is no set syllabus but they are taught wizarding culture, manners and basics of all the subjects that will be taught at Hogwarts.

She also meets other characters from the books at her classes - she recognises the names Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein, Lavender Brown and Marietta Edgecomb but there are others like Marcus Belby, Glenda Hornby and Elizabeth Bett too. This is the first time she’s met people her age in the wizarding world and it turns out to be a wonderful opportunity to mould her behaviour - turns out she’s being too cautious. While the kids around her are much less emotionally mature and much more explosive than her - intellectually they are far beyond any 5 year old she’s met before. Their comprehension, vocabulary and concentration is exceptional for their age and Effie guesses it’s because of the physical changes she’s also felt in herself.

Susan is an absolute sweetheart - kind and loyal but with a sense of self that will someday grow into a spine of steel. Lavender Brown is a ridiculously cute kid - golden haired and fond of wearing studs that match her outfits everyday. Anthony Goldstein is a quiet and polite boy who enjoys reading except when he’s bugging Mrs. Trigg about her Charms Mastery. But of all of them, Marietta proves to be the most useful. She’s a year older than Effie and while she doesn’t enjoy judging a 6 year old - an absolute nightmare. The first day she meets Effie she mentions Bellatrix, the second day she makes a snide comment on metamorphmagi when Effie is entertaining the other kids with her powers. It is on the fifth day that mentions something that makes Effie’s life easier - Sirius Black. Effie wastes no time in asking Mrs. Trigg about him.

“Ah Sirius Black, I met him a few times when he visited your mother. Never would have expected him to turn out like that! Charming boy. And sharp! Very sharp.”

“What did he do Mrs. Trigg?”

“He killed Peter Pettigrew, a war hero and 12 muggles when he blew up a street. I’ve heard he also gave up the Potter’s location to You-Know-Who.” Her eyes softened slightly, “You don’t need to worry about him Ms. Tonks. He’s in Azkaban for life.”

Effie grimaces and nods her head. Before she can run back to the garden where Lavender said she’d found a branch of bowtruckles Mrs. Trigg says, “It doesn’t matter who you’re related to Euphrosyne” calling her by her first name for the first time, “All that matters is who you are.”

"It doesn’t bother me Mrs. Trigg. I got this because of them” she points at her head and changes her hair to the exact grey of Mrs. Trigg’s, gives her a cheeky smile and runs out of the study room. She hears a slight chuckle behind her as she leaves.

Outside she runs straight to Susan. “Hey Susan, I had a question about the DMLE.”

Susan perks up, “What is it?”

“Well you heard Marietta mention Sirius Black today right?", Susan nods and then glares at Marietta who's playing with Glenda. "He’s related to me and Mrs. Trigg just told me that he wasn’t very likely to take You-Know-Who’s side. Do you think my parents could get the trial transcripts at the Ministry?”

“Oh yes! A few months ago I wanted to know how my parents died. Aunt Amelia didn’t let me read the whole thing but she did let me see the transcripts - she would have never done that if it wasn’t allowed. She doesn’t believe in abuse of power.” she finishes proudly. 

“Well I’m glad we have people like her at the ministry! I hope she gets that promotion soon.”

Effie can’t believe it worked! Bless wizards and witches and their ideas about child rearing. In fact, now that she’s talked to other kids her age she realises how overprotective Mrs. Weasley was. Magical children are generally allowed much greater freedom and personal responsibility at a younger age. She had always believed her parents were the exception because generally they didn’t shy away from discussing most topics but that’s the case with almost all her friends here.

That day, after dinner when they’re all reading their respective books on the sofa Effie puts her plan into action.

“Mum” she says almost meekly, “Someone mentioned Sirius Black at the classes today.”

Her parents straighten and her mother looks much paler than she did five minutes ago.

“What did they say?”, Dad asks while Mum sits there silently.

“There’s this girl who was teasing me about being related to Bellatrix Lestrange a few days ago.” Her mother sucks in a breath and Effie reassures her, “It doesn’t bother me. I don’t care about her. But she also mentioned Sirius Black today and I didn’t know who he was so I asked Mrs. Trigg. She said he used to visit you at the ministry and she was very surprised when it turned out he supported You-Know-Who.”

Her mother looks sad but also slightly irritated. "Sirius is a difficult topic for me Euphrosyne. He was the last person I expected would join You-Know-Who. After we eloped, he was the only one from the family I was in touch with and he was always supportive of us. For days after he was arrested I hoped the Prophet was wrong. They weren't letting anyone into the ministry that month, all trials were closed. I did write to Mr. Lupin, a friend of his who told me Sirius had confessed. There was nothing to discuss after that." she sighs again. “Truthfully I didn't want to think about it too much either.”

"Can you get the trial transcripts from the ministry Mum? Maybe it'll help you get some answers.”

Mum finally smiles but it looks a little strained, "You mean you will get the answers you want.”

Effie smiles sheepishly and nods, “It just seems so strange. Mrs. Trigg and you are the most observant people I know, if you have a hard time believing he joined You-Know-Who then maybe he didn't.”

"I'll try darling but don't get your hopes up. There were plenty of people who betrayed those closest to them during the war. There is a reason why people hate discussing it.”

Effie notices how tired her mother looks. “I’m sorry mum, I was just curious.”

Her mother stands, “Oh I know. You’ve always been too curious for your own good” she says affectionately as she squeezes Effie’s shoulders.

A week after this discussion Mum comes home looking pale and scared. Effie has noticed her looking more agitated as the week goes by and had assumed she couldn’t find any information about the trial. She has a letter in her hands and rushes Dad into their bedroom. There is probably a silencing ward around the room because Effie can’t hear anything.

Both of them are tense for the next few days but relax a little as the weekend approaches. 

It’s Sunday and sunny for once so the three of them are relaxing in the sunlight. Effie’s in the kitchen to get a drink when the bell rings. She opens the door to find a tall, dark haired man. He looks like he’s in his sixties but it's hard to tell with wizards. He looks a lot like Sirius did, probably one of the other Blacks. Effie doesn’t know much about them, from the books or from her mother but it doesn’t look like he wants to harm her.

Effie smiles at him. “Hello. How may I help you?”

His face spasms a little as he looks at her. “Your mother is expecting me.”

Effie invites him in just as her mother walks into the drawing room. “Hello Uncle Arcturus. Welcome to our home.” Mum puts a hand on her shoulders. “This is Euphrosyne.”

“Nice to meet you”, Effie says and Arcturus nods. “You can call me Grandad.” he says after a slightly awkward silence. Mum looks shocked.

Effie is sent back to her room in short order but comes back to eavesdrop when some time has passed. Luckily there is no ward around this room. Human to animal morphing is still hard for her but she imagines a dog’s anatomy in her mind, her ears morph and suddenly she can hear everything.

Turns out after finding no transcripts at the DMLE - Mum had gone to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Deputy Head Auror and Mum’s close friend in school. Kingsley went to Amelia Bones who went to the Minister and none of them found anything. At this point, Mum had decided to approach Dumbledore but Arcturus had contacted her first. Some of his Ministry spies had told him Mum was looking into Black family business. He had assumed his daughter-in-law who had been the acting Head of the family till her health took a turn for the worse a few months ago had ensured all Blacks got trials but as it turns out, Sirius hadn’t gotten one.

Arcturus, who had given up on his family by then found a new ray of hope. Andromeda is a known traitor to the Black family so getting Sirius a trial will be easier for her and with Arcturus greasing some palms there is a high chance of it being a fair one too.

He doesn’t stay for too long. Just as he’s about to leave, Effie hears him say “Once we have this Sirius business sorted out, we can talk about your position in the family. Despite the unwise decisions you’ve made”, Effie can almost feel the effort that goes into being civil towards her dad, “you are a Black and you’ve given the house two metamorphmagi.”

“I look forward to talking about the future of the Black family Uncle, but I’m a Tonks now. I’ve been one for more than a decade now and I was disowned when I left.”

“Doesn’t make you any less you or your daughters any less Black” he says dismissively. “I know you’ve been helping your girls but we have resources for Metamorphmagi. Think about it.”

Effie rushes back to her room before Mum figures out she was eavesdropping. Dinner is subdued that day, Mum and Dad are lost in their thoughts and Effie’s never been the best at lightening the atmosphere. She wishes Dora was here. 

The tense atmosphere doesn’t ease for a few weeks. Effie distracts herself by immersing herself in this new life and forces herself to stop thinking about Sirius. She goes to Mrs Triggs classes, spends time with Susan and Anthony, learns cosmetic charms and tricks from Lavender, avoids Marietta and waits for the Christmas holidays.

On Dora’s birthday they send her a letter, some sweets and new records from her favourite Muggle bands. Dora sends back a howler that somehow turns the colour of a rainbow, shouting her thanks. A week before they are supposed to pick up Dora at the station they take out all the Christmas decorations from the attic and bring home a new tree. The decorating they’ll do as a family, as they’ve done every year.

On the 19th they’re standing at King’s Cross waiting for the Hogwarts Express when Effie meets the rest of the Weasley Family. The whole family is like a hurricane, she can hear the twins’ cackles as they floo in, a boy who could only be Ron whining to his mother who has Ginny in her arms as Percy looks on, a long suffering expression on his face. Ginny is laughing just as loudly as the twins while Mrs. Weasley tries to shush all of them. They’re so chaotic. Effie loves it.

Mr. Weasley notices Mum, takes Ron’s hand in his and walks towards them, the rest of the family following. Effie doesn’t know what to do. This is the first time she’ll be interacting with a major character and expected to speak - with Sirius she’d been too young. She forces herself to calm down and pastes a curious expression on her face.

“Hello Andromeda, Ted”, Mr. Weasley nods and both of them before he turns to Mum. “I heard you are getting the Sirius Black case opened again” he starts and Effie can’t help herself from perking up. Her parents have been unusually secretive about all of this and no matter how many times Effie asks, they tell her they’ll let her know if there is anything to know.

Mrs. Weasley - with her extraordinary instincts when it comes to kids knowing anything they shouldn’t, clears her throat. “Arthur, this is no place to talk about all this. Let's invite the Tonks for tea once the holidays are over.” she says, implying there’s no room for negotiation. Mum looks relieved and nods, smiling gratefully at Mrs. Weasley.

Effie glares at the twins, knowing they are the most likely culprits for Mrs. Weasley’s instincts. The twins look confused but then shrug and extend their hands towards her. “I’m George” the one on the right says, pointing his thumb towards his twin, “and this is Fred.”

Effie doesn’t know if they’ve started lying about their identities yet but changes her hair and eyes to the exact colour as theirs. “I can’t believe you’re lying to your triplet.” she pouts.

The twins look flabbergasted and then gleeful, Ron and Percy are gaping at her, Ginny is cackling - that girl is going to be scary when she grows up. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley look amused.

“Always good to meet another prankster.” The one on the right says, “I’m Fred”. So they were lying. Effie scans her eyes over both of their faces. With how much she’s had to focus on details because of her morphing, differentiating them becomes easier. They’re remarkably similar looking, even for twins but Fred’s nose is a little broader and George has a little scar near his left eyebrow.

Effie extends her hand. “I’m Euphrosyne, call me Effie.”

She realises her mistake as soon as they’ve finished shaking her hand with all their strength.

“Euphrosyne’s such a nice name. Why would we call you Effie?” George speaks for the first time, mischief in his eyes. Effie narrows her eyes but doesn’t say anything. She won’t give them the satisfaction. She can’t believe she’s competing with two actual seven year olds.

She’s introduced to Percy, Ron and Ginny and changes her nose to a dog’s snout at their request. They seem entertained and Percy looks like he’s itching to ask her questions but not doing so out of politeness. The train enters the station and they all turn and watch Dora and Charlie walking towards them together. Bill is a little further away, talking to his friends.

Dora drags Charlie towards them, “This is Charlie. He saved me from falling from my broom in the flying class this year.”

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Tonks” he smiles at her parents, then turns to Effie and beams, “Wotcher Effie! I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Time to live up to the annoying baby sister reputation.

“Hey Charlie! Nice to meet you. Dora couldn’t stop writing about you in her letters.” Her parents look at her, a little confused since Dora had written very little about Charlie but she ignores them and looks at Dora, “I didn’t know your boyfriend was so cute.”

Dora and Charlie turn red, from the top of her hair to the toes in Dora’s case and all the Weasleys start laughing. Effie hides behind Dad and winces a little when she looks at Dora, that face promises retribution.

They say their goodbyes to the Weasleys who are still waiting for Bill and floo home where the next few hours are spent listening to Dora’s experience at Hogwarts as they decorate the tree.

Effie has always enjoyed Christmas but in her past life her family didn’t celebrate it. Till last year, even the Tonks’ considered her too young to do much beyond hanging her hand-made baubles on the tree but this year she gets to do everything she had heard about but never done. They make gingerbread men that Mum charms to run around the table, visit the fair at Hogsmeade, visit her Dad’s family on Boxing Day where she plays with her cousins. After months of worrying about the future and missing Dora, the holidays are a wonderful reprieve. She notices that her parents look less tired and promises herself that she’ll try to keep them in high spirits and not worry them too much.

A few days before New Years, their parents sit them down after dinner looking grave.

“You both know I was a Black before I married your father and they are known for being pureblood supremacists.” her mother says after a long silence. “One of my cousins, Sirius was different and close to me. He was put in Azkaban for life after the Potters died for killing 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Recently we found out that he didn’t get a trial. My Uncle Arcturus, the current head of the Black family has been working with me to get him one and we finally know it will happen towards the end of January.”

She looks at both of them and says seriously, “There is a chance he might still be sent to Azkaban but I wanted you both to know what is going on.”

“In any case, he should have gotten a trial”, Dad says. “Arcturus has gotten him a good lawyer but no matter what happens with Sirius, he wants to get in touch with the two of you. You are the first metamorphmagi in the family in generations and he wants to help you.” Dad looks like he’s swallowed a lemon and Mum's face looks pinched but it seems like they’ve decided to let them stay in touch with Arcturus.

“But they’re not our family!” Dora almost shouts.

“Not right now, they aren’t.” Dad says calmly, “but he’s asking for a chance and we don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Life goes on and Effie learns more about the wizarding world. They’re covering the Ministry of Magic at Mrs. Trigg’s class and it's illuminating.

She had always wondered why it had been so easy for people to believe in the Ministry, after all out of all of Magical Britain only around two dozen people had been a part of the Order of the Phoenix the second time. Turns out, the Ministry does a lot for the general population. The social welfare system is as good as it was in the Scandinavian countries in her old world. There are a little more than fifty thousand magicals in the UK and the Ministry provides subsidised healthcare, elderly care, benefits for the ill and disabled and unemployment benefits. None of these benefits are provided to anyone except wizards and witches which is what makes werewolves so desperate.

Education also varies across the country. Hogwarts is a private school - prestigious and expensive with limited interference from the Ministry. Students are chosen by the Hogwarts’ quill on the basis of power levels and legacy which is why most of the muggleborn and half-blood students at Hogwarts are some of the most powerful students in Magical Britain. The subjects, syllabus and extra-curricular activities are decided by the Board of Governors and the staff. Only if the Headmaster is deemed incompetent can the Board of Governors request the Ministry for assistance.

Other schools are ministry funded - secondary schools, special schools for less powerful children who do better at non-wanded subjects and trade schools being some of them. Quidditch academies and performance art schools are generally run by quidditch teams or performers and don’t focus on academics beyond the basics.

There are no universities, rather the higher education system is apprenticeship based.

She can understand what a big deal it was for the Weasleys to have seven children now. Hogwarts does offer scholarships, but they generally go to orphans or muggleborns who can’t afford Hogwarts.

A week before Sirius’ trial, Effie feels like she’s about to vibrate out of her skin. She begs Dad to take her to the stadium since Quidditch season will start soon and everyone will get busier. Sylvester Soar, keeper for the Wasps and her favourite player had promised to help her fly better once she got a better broom. Her new broom is still a training broom, but it goes faster and higher than the previous one.

Sylvester is tall, broad and fair-haired with light blue eyes. He’s from America and came to Britain when the war ended because Quidditch is a bigger craze here. He has a niece the same age as Effie and dotes on her when he misses her too much.

“Hey Euphrosyne! How are you doing?” Sylvester asks as soon he sees Effie. He is another person who refuses to call her anything except Euphrosyne, says that if he has to live with a name like Sylvester then Dora and her can live with their names. Effie doesn’t mind, she could have done with an easier name but she likes it well enough.

“I’m good. I finally got a better broom for Christmas so I bothered Dad till he let me tag along.”

Sylvester laughs, “Yes I heard you’d started going to classes. Between you and me, your dad misses Nymphadora and you hanging around all day. Come on, show me your new broom” He picks up the Little Comet 500, “Hmm good choice” he says fake seriously. As if he was not the one who suggested it to Dad.

“Let’s go” Effie can hear the whine in her voice. Sylvester laughs and leads her onto the field.

The next few hours are spent learning to maneuver her new broom. Effie can’t believe how easily this comes to her - she’d never been a confident driver but a broom is like a mixture of riding a horse and a cycle. As easy to control as a cycle as long as you don’t show fear or uncertainty. However, she’s absolutely pants at Quidditch. She just can’t seem to catch the Quaffle or if she does, then she can’t hold onto it. The success with broom riding had increased her hopes that she would be better at sports in this life but it's just as hopeless as before.

She can see Sylvester trying to hold onto his laughter. He loses the battle as soon as they land on the ground and laughs harder when he sees Effie’s pout.

“It’s okay kid. We’ll practice more later.” He says mirth dripping from his eyes.

“Not everyone has to be good at Quidditch you know” Effie says, still pouting.

Sylvester suddenly looks serious. “No, and I’m not suggesting you become a pro player but my reflexes have saved my life plenty of times.” He ruffles Effie’s hair and smirks, “It’s not like you can get worse”

Effie stomps her feet as she walks away from Sylvester’s laugh, acting her age for once. 

Effie obviously isn’t allowed to attend Sirius’ trial and is unable to focus in classes. Mrs. Trigg notices and lets all of them run around the garden and help her in weeding. When she returns home, Dad looks lighter and Mum’s eyes are puffy but she’s smiling.

“Sirius is innocent.” Her mum says, voice shaking. She pulls Effie into a tight hug. “Thank you so much, my love. If you hadn’t asked about him we never would have looked into it. Who knows how long he would have stayed in that place. Thank you.”

Effie can feel tears prickle the back of her eyes and hugs her mum back just as tightly.

“Where is he now?” she asks.

“He’s at St. Mungo’s for now but we wanted to ask you if he can stay here for sometime. Uncle Arcturus offered too but Sirius is not very fond of him.”

“Of course. Dad can also help him out here.”

Dad nods. “I’ll be taking a few days off. He’s remarkably healthy for someone in his position but he needs care."

So, Sirius moves into their house a few days later. He looks thin - almost starved but clearly he has been given a haircut and is clean shaven. When Effie meets him, she turns her hair black and her eyes grey - she remembers how much he liked it once.

Sirius barks out a wet laugh, “You’ve grown up so much.”

“Well, babies grow up in three years you know.” Effie says then winces. That was mean. Her mother is glaring at from behind Sirius but he laughs again.

“I can’t believe how big she is. Would Harry be just as big?” he asks almost desperately as he looks at Mum and Dad.

“Well he’s a few months younger than her, isn’t he? At this age they change a lot in a few months but he must be running around and talking.”, Dad says in his best healer voice.

“I’ve missed so much. I’ve failed Lily and James. I have to go to him.”, Sirius whimpers and starts crying. Effie panics and looks at her parents who look like this is not the first time this has happened. Dad puts his arm around Sirius’ shoulders. “Come on, let’s get you into bed. You can visit Harry when you’re feeling better.”

“For shame Ted! I’m not that kind of man. At least take me out on a date first.” Sirius tries joking but his face is flushed and his nose sounds blocked. Dad still laughs and leads him upstairs.

“We’re going to need you to be a little more considerate Effie”, Mum says sternly once they’ve left. “Sirius is very delicate right now, he needs all of us to help him.”

Effie nods but feels a little helpless. All of them will try to help Sirius as much as they can but she knows things are only going to get worse once he meets Harry and the Dursleys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided not to show Sirius' trial. It seemed unlikely that Effie would be allowed to attend, what with her being five years old. Veritaserum, watching memories or checking his wand - you can decide for yourself which is the most likely way for him to get free.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an extremely self indulgent piece of fiction. I've been facing the worst writing block for years now - all I've been doing is jotting down ideas, writing down a page or two and then moving on to the next thing as soon as I hit a lag. Then 2020 happened and I had a lot of time to read fanfiction, discover Self-Inserts and think about my mortality. After months of genuinely wondering what I would do if I was born in Harry Potter or Naruto or Twilight or Teen Wolf, I figured I'd start writing something about my favourite fictional world. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


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